Manifold book



Nov. 12, 1935.

MANIFOLD BOOK Filed April 5, 1955 .5 1 L f 4 1'7: V 2 I J 7 8 L 9 ./1EH; 1 4 2 t2 R. M BONN 2,020,287

Patented Nov. 12, 1935 MANIFOLD, BOOK Robert M. Bonn,'Maplewood, N. J.,asslgnor to r The Arco Manifolding Co. Inc a corporation of.

New York Application April 3, 1935, Serial No. 14,402

3 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for general manifolding purposes, moreparticularly for manifolding printed business forms. Such devicesinclude/at least, an original sheet, a copy sheet 5 and a carbon sheettherebetwee'n. Printed forms are required in nearly every kind ofbusiness. The larger and more complicated and departmentized thebusiness is, the greater is the demand for improved manifolding devicesto be used in the form .of units, pads, tablets or bound in book form.Such devices must embody the elements of perfect alinement of forms,easy and quick separation of one form from another form, or separationof one set of forms from another set. They must also embody means forselective manifolding, i. e. that not every item be duplicated on everyform. In addition, it is at times required that a certain form bemanifolded first as a unit and subsequently divided into smaller units.It is also frequently demanded that the manifolding device be arrangedwith particular reference -to the preservation ofthe edges of the paper,that is, that certain edges or sides of the paper be bound while otheredges remain unbound. Another factor to be considered is that ofneatness and cleanliness in handling the forms and of separating thecarbons from the printed forms.

manifolding devices embodying certain novel features of construction andarrangement whereby the above and other requirements may be fulfilled.One'object of the invention isto provide a" manifolding device includinga plurality of sets of forms so arranged that separation 01 the severalsetsis indicated automatically and may ,be quickly performed. Otherdetailed objects of the invention will appear asthis specificationprinted form. There may be and mostly are several copy'sheets and ofcourse there is a carbon sheet on top of each copy sheet. The originaland the copy sheets are preferably of the same size, while the carbonsheets may be of the same size 5 or smaller. The assembling of thecarbon sheets with the other sheets, which I may call form sheetsbecause they usually contain printed forms, is done in such a mannerthat when the form sheets are to be separated for distribution, thecarbon 10 sheets are separated together as a unit at one time. Thisfeature is common to all the disclosed forms of the invention herein. Inthe drawing the form sheets are shown thicker than the carbon sheets forthe sake of clearness. All the 15 sheets are shown much thicker thanactual dimensions.

Referring now to Figure l, the manifolding unit consists of an originalsheet 1 and copy sheets 2 interleaved with carbon sheets 3. The lateral20 dimensions of the sheets are not disclosed, it being understood thatthe size of the form sheets is such as will contain whatever printedform is required in a particular business. It will also be understoodthat the position of the printed form 25 on the sheet is of noimportance. The sheets may a 'be assembled in units, books, pads ortablets with It is the object of this invention to provide proceedswhile reference is had to the accom' panying drawing in which embodyingthe features of this invention illustrated in a very simple form. V

Fig. 2 is a similar 'view which includes other' certain features of theinvention relating to sep- 45 aration of the forms in more than oneoperation.

any one of their sides being secured to the correspondirrg sides of theother sheets, and any one side of a sheet may be the head or top. Allsuch particular arrangements depend not upon the invention but upon eachspecific case. In Figure 1 the sheets are all secured or bound at oneedge 4 in any suitable manner and whereby perfect alinement ofthe formsis secured and maintained. 5 The secured edges of the sheets areindicated by double lines throughout the drawing as a matter'ofillustration only and not for the purpose of indicating any particularmethod or means for this purpose. For purposes of separation the 40 formsheets are perforated across the sheet along the. lines 5. Similarly thecarbon sheets are per forated along the lines 6 and it will be notedthat the carbon sheets are shorter than the form sheets Fig. 3 showsthe'manifolding units bound in book form and includes still other novelfeatures.

Figs. 4', 5, 6 and 7 illustrate certain modifications. 50,v Figs. 8 and9 illustrate how different sets of forms may be quickly separated. I

Each manifolding unit according to this inven tion consists of :anoriginal sheet, a. copy sheet and acarbon sheettherebetween The original55:, sheet maybe a blank sheet or it may containa which form aprojecting margin 1 at their free edges. When the form has been filledin by writ- 'ing by hand or typewriting, all the sheets are torn fromthe bound edge 4 along the perforated lines. 5 and 6. Consequently thecarbon sheets project at the left end in the drawing beyond the formsheets. The operator therefore may seize all the carbon sheet projectingmargins with the left hand and all the form' sheet margins 'l with therighthand and remove the carbon sheets i at one time in a singleoperation. Thereafter the filled-in form sheets may be distributed orotherwise used, while usually the carbon sheets are discarded.

It will be noted that because of the staggered perforated lines 5 and 6,the carbon sheets, when torn away, automatically are caused to projectbeyond the form sheets and provide a margin to be seized by the operatoras will be understood. That portion of the carbon sheets which liesbetween the lines 4 and 5 may be uncoated if desired, so that theprojecting carbon margin does not soil the fingers when the sheets areseparated. The uncoated portion is also of advantage in pasting thesheets together if pasting is usedat 4. 7

Figure 2 illustrates a manifolding unit like the one shown in Figure 1with the additional feature that the form sheets may be separated intogroups 8 and 9 by tearing along the perforated line II]. The carbonsheets have corresponding off set perforated lines at I I. Theperforations II are made so as to provide greater resistance to thetearing operation than the perforations 5. Consequently the operator isenabled to tear ofi the entire unit 89 along the lines 5 and 6, andthereafter separate the group 8 from the group 9 by tearing along thelines I!) and II. The carbon sheets may have uncoated strips between thelines If! and II. For the purpose of identification throughout thisspecification and the claims,

perforations such as I!) will be called strong perforations asdistinguished -from weak perforations such as at 5. There need be nodifference in the perforations in the carbon paper because the carbonsheets being confined between the other sheets will naturally follow themovements thereof and thus separate first along the perforations 6.However, if desired, the perforations in the carbon sheets may be variedto correspond.

Figure 3 illustrates a plurality of units of the character shown in thepreceding figures bound together in book form with certain additionalfeatures of construction. In this figure there is a top unit I2 andanother unit I3 below the same.

The units are assembled in a pad or into a book by suitable means at I4and of course there may be any number of units thus assembled one on topof the other. Each unit consists of an original sheet I, copy sheets 2and carbon sheets 3 as in Figure 1. These sheets are also perforated at5 and 6 as in Figure 1. In this case the bottom 'copy sheet I5 of eachunit is intended to be left as a permanentrecord in the book or pad.Such bottom copy sheet I5 is therefore not perforated at all and it isalso shorter than the other sheets so that it will not be seizedtogether with other sheets. It will also be noted'that the carbon sheetsin Figure 3 diifer from the carbon sheets in Figure 1 that they are ofthe-same size as the form sheets and extend clear to the free edgesthereof.

The carbon sheets in this case, Figure 3,have

their one corner out off as at I6'as ure 4.

In using the manifolding device in Figure 3 all writing on the originalsheet I will be duplicated on the copy sheets 2 and I5 in the uppermostunit I2. Thereafter'the operator separates the unit I2 from the pad orbook by tearing along the perforated lines 5 and B as before, but theseen in Figbottom copysheet I5 is. not separated because the operatordoes not' take'hold of'it; it being shorter, and becausesuchbottom sheetis'not perforated at all. Next; thecarbon sheets are s'eparated bytheoperator taking hold of the "projectlng carbon margins at theleft andthe upper bonsheets are shown at I9.

corners of the form sheets at the right and pulls the carbons out in amanner easily understood. Then the permanent or remaining bottom copysheet I5 is turned over to the left. Thereafter the unit I3 is on topready for use. When the book or pad has been used up so far asmanifolding is concerned, there remains a book or pad of permanentlyassembled records of the manifold operations contained in the bottomcopy sheets I5.

In any of the above described units it may be found desirable to bind orsecure also the right hand edges of each unit. Figure 5 illustrates sucha bound or secured right hand edge of a unit. In this case the formsheets are provided with perforations I'I neartheright hand edges andare secured together at I8. The free edges of the car- Hence, before orafter the unit has been separated from its bound edge at 4 as in Figure1, the margin portions 20 20 of the form sheets are torn off and.finally the carbon sheets separated in a group as 'in'Flgure 1.

Figure 6 is the same as Figure 5 except that here the carbon sheetsextend clear to the edges of the form sheets. This may be necessarywhere one wishes to write clear to the edge of the form sheets or forother reasons. In Figure 6 therefore,'the form sheets have theperforations I1 and the carbon sheets have 011? set perforations at 2|.Hence, when theunit as such has been used separately or has been tornaway from the secured edge 4, as in Figure 1, the margins at the othersecured edge I8 are torn off along the lines 2I and I1. Thereafter thecarbon sheets are removed in a group as before. Figure 7 is like Figure6 but shows the bottom copy sheet I5, as In Figure 3, being of the samesize as the other copy sheets. Hence sheet I5 is also perforated at I1and its edge secured'to the other sheets at I8. When the margins at I8are torn off the bottom sheet remains as in Figure 3.

Figure 8 illustrates how the'principle of staggering perforation linesmay be used to advantage for the separation of groups or sets ofmanifolding forms. In this figure the single manlfolding unit consistsof two groups of different forms. The uppermost group or set 22 consistsof four form sheets 24 and the lower group or set 23 consists of fourform' sheets 25. The number of sheets is of course immaterial and twogroups or sets may not contain the same number of sheets. There'may bemore than two sets in a unit. The form sheets are interleaved withcarbon sheets 26. All the sheets are secured together at the one edge2'! where the form. sheets have perforations at 28 while-the carbonsheets have off set perforations at 29. The free edges of the carbonsheets terminate at 30. The free edges ofthe form sheets haveperforations 3| and 32 staggered groupwise as shown.

After the manifolding common to all theforms in this unit has been done;the operator first tears 01f the free edges of'the form sheets along theperforations 3| and 32 as seen in Figure 9 5 where the portions marked33 indicate the torn off margins or edges of the form sheets. When thesehave been removed there is immediately and automatically disclosed adifference in width' or length between the sheets in the two groups 70toinsure that all the sheets which belong in one 15 I like opening abook and thus separates the two groups. In practice the operator, inlifting the upper group from the lower group, naturally takes hold ofthe fourth lowest carbon sheet at the bottom of the upper group so thatwhen the lower group is separated there is no carbon sheet on topthereof.

It will also be clear that while the invention is disclosed in itspreferred form, changes in the detailed arrangements and alterations maybe made without departing from the principle of the invention and thescope of the appended claims.

I claimi 1. A manifolding unit of the character described comprising aplurality of sets of forms all being of the same original size, one ofsaid stub portion of a given dimension, the other set having at the sameend a severable stub portion of a different dimension, means forsecuring the two sets of forms together in registered alined positionwith the said stub portions in superposed relation and carbon sheetsbetween adjacent forms.

2. A manifolding unit of the character described comprising an upper anda lower set of form sheets of the same original size,the upper formsheets having a severable portion at one end, the lower form sheetshaving a larger severable portion at the same end, all of said severableportions being adapted to be removed from the'forms sheets by a singletearing operation whereby to automatically disclose that the lower formsheets are longer than the upper form sheets, carbon sheets between allof said sheets, means for securing the carbon sheets and all the formsheets together at the end opposite the first mentioned and of the formsheets, the portions of all the form sheets to which the carbon sheetsare secured being severable, the carbon sheets being shorter than theusable portions of all the form sheets.

'3. A manifolding unit of the character de-' scribed including anoriginal sheet, a copy, sheet 0 and a carbon sheet therebetween, all ofsaid sheets being secured together at one end, the

carbon sheet being shorter than the other sheets, sets of forms havingat itsone end a severable the original and the copy sheet being of thesame size and having severable variably sized stub por- 2 tions at theirother ends whereby when said severable variably sized stub portions areremoved, the original sheet and the copy sheet will be automaticallydisclosed as being of different sizes to facilitate separation.

' ROBERT M. BONN.

